Biking in Boston

Ron Newman said:
2011-12 winter in Boston was largely snowless, and 2012-13 so far seems similar, but think back to 2010-11. This is fundamentally unpredictable.
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Theres really no such thing as a surprise snow though. They get the amounts wrong and such, but theres always advance warning.

Even if it means pulling the stations at the sign of a false positive - so be it. Still more time than with a random date.
 
If Hubway goes year-round, why not just extend the sidewalks out over the parking spaces that Hubway is renting/buying? Those spaces will be permanently out-of-commission for vehicles anyway. So bump out the curb, put the racks up on that bumped out curb, and voila! Maybe add some bollards on the bump-out as seen fit.
 
BostonUrbEx said:
If Hubway goes year-round, why not just extend the sidewalks out over the parking spaces that Hubway is renting/buying? Those spaces will be permanently out-of-commission for vehicles anyway. So bump out the curb, put the racks up on that bumped out curb, and voila! Maybe add some bollards on the bump-out as seen fit.
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Love the idea. It would be expensive but this solves the problem of them getting hit by plows and eating up valuable sidewalk space.
 
BostonUrbEx said:
If Hubway goes year-round, why not just extend the sidewalks out over the parking spaces that Hubway is renting/buying? Those spaces will be permanently out-of-commission for vehicles anyway. So bump out the curb, put the racks up on that bumped out curb, and voila! Maybe add some bollards on the bump-out as seen fit.
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I like it.
 
That's actually proposed for Mass Ave/Boylston's station when Parcel 12 is developed.
 
New bike infrastructure could soon be installed on A and D Streets in South Boston, according to Nicole Freedman, director of the city’s Boston Bikes program.

Plans are preliminary and the program still needs to hold community meetings on the subject, but Freedman said the neighborhood could see work happening to improve road safety by late spring.

On A Street, designs call for the installation of a mix of “sharrows,” street designs that alert drivers of cyclists; traditional bike lanes; and buffered bike lanes, designs that separate cars from bikes with a painted two-foot buffer.

Work on A Street is expected to cover the approximately half-mile stretch from Dorchester Avenue to Congress Street, with a buffered bike lane added near West First Street and green “bike boxes” added to certain intersections.

D Street will also receive a full treatment from Dorchester Avenue to Seaport Boulevard, an approximately 1.4-mile stretch of road.

The road will get “sharrows,” traditional bikes lanes, and buffered bike lanes, along with “bike boxes” at some intersections. The buffered bike lane is expected to be installed from Cypher Street to Claflin Street.
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http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/south_boston/2013/02/hold_bikes_lanes_slated_for_a.html
 
Ready for some shocking news?

Portland gave their bike share contract to Alta a few months ago, for a Spring 2013 deployment.


You might have to sit down for this.

Today they announced a one year delay in launch


Just like every other Alta bikeshare system.

Shocking, I know.


Don't you just love it how this country rewards failure with large financial contracts? You'd think Alta was a bank.
 
http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/somerville/2013/02/cycle_track_vs_parking_spaces.html

Not that I think the parking is necessary, but I don't like this cycle track idea one bit.

Its only a 1 mile stretch - that takes about 4-5 minutes to travel by bike. What happens at Inman Square? How are you supposed to get in and out of this cycle track without making traffic more chaotic than it already is at Inman? I don't see Cambridge tearing up Hampshire street anytime soon to have the track continue.

They need to repave Beacon and maybe widen the bike lanes 6-12 inches. That's all.
 
I think it's a good idea to try out and I'm sure Cambridge will play ball. They're not going to have another opportunity like this for many years. Narrowing the sidewalk is bad though -- that should not be considered at all. Ironic that that the fellow who proposed that is named 'Olmsted'.
 
I would be one of the people that would bike if this were done. I make the Porter-Kendall commute. The Somerville/minuteman path stops at lowell, and Beacon street is currently beat to hell for everyone (cars, bikes, peds). There is a lot of bottled up demand that will be unleashed here and I think Cambridge being cambridge would then enhance its own infrastructure.

When hubway is up, I bike to many squares- ball, union, davis- inman is not much farther but i find I go there less because I can't easily bike. And inman is right up there with davis.
 
Interesting that people think it will drive rents down. I'd expect having a better way to get to Kendall would have the opposite effect...
 
Ron Newman said:
Portland Maine or Oregon?
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The big one.

fattony said:
[
Its only a 1 mile stretch - that takes about 4-5 minutes to travel by bike. What happens at Inman Square? How are you supposed to get in and out of this cycle track without making traffic more chaotic than it already is at Inman? I don't see Cambridge tearing up Hampshire street anytime soon to have the track continue.
.
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Cambridge is putting in cycle tracks left and right.

Theyll get to it.

Its a terrible argument too.

"We cant do bike track until Cambridge has one that connects"
"We cant do bike track until Somerville has one that connects"

Circular argument forever.

Look at Beacon St in Boston/Brookline. Brookline built their lane, so Boston said "oh I guess we should connect to that"
 
if hubway goes year-round, the city has to do a much better job clearing the streets after a major storm. it's going on two weeks and many of the bike lanes are still blocked.
 
jass said:
Cambridge is putting in cycle tracks left and right.

Theyll get to it.

Its a terrible argument too.

"We cant do bike track until Cambridge has one that connects"
"We cant do bike track until Somerville has one that connects"

Circular argument forever.

Look at Beacon St in Boston/Brookline. Brookline built their lane, so Boston said "oh I guess we should connect to that"
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So after Cambridge gets on board, there will be 2 miles of cycle track from almost-Porter to almost-Kendall. I sincerely don't mean this sarcastically - do you think 2 miles of cycle track will be transformative?

Is this going to be the tip of the iceberg erasing parking to make cycle tracks? Up next: Broadway (both of them), Cambridge St, Somerville Ave, Prospect, Main St. Mass Ave... Because if its not, then we don't need to ruffle feathers in both cities for 2 miles of cycle track.
 
I don't think you need to have some grand cycle track vision to think this is worthwhile. It's useful transportation infrastructure on a major corridor between residential, commercial and entertainment uses. Right now the street has excess parking that is at below market city rates. More people will move more quickly and safely here before than after, with only a small impact on some area residents that had easy parking.
 
"So after Cambridge gets on board, there will be 2 miles of cycle track from almost-Porter to almost-Kendall. I sincerely don't mean this sarcastically - do you think 2 miles of cycle track will be transformative? "

For people that live near Porter and work in Kendall that's almost their entire commute. So yes!

As another comparison, Somerville is only 4 square miles in area. Which means the whole City is only about 2 miles end to end. So yes 2 miles of cycle track would be HUGE! It would get you across the entire City!

And yes it is the tip of the iceberg. I have no doubt that Broadway in Somerville will be getting cycle tracks at some point. And that Cambridge will be continuing to put in new ones (Western Ave is under construction right now).
 
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